#still online battles would be neat

[raposarealm]

Watched through the Exe presentation during the Tokyo Game Show this year, and yeah, online battles and all are cool as hell, but

I forgot how Rock’s English VA (Andrew Francis) sounds. 

And no disrespect to Francis, but.

I am in pain.

[choochooboss]

Submas sketchdump! Vol. 1

April-June 2022

Literally dumping all the presentable works as promised, whether I'm proud of them or not! This is where I started, even before the first thing I posted online (That subway station one). Many of these are not on Twitter yet so there's lots to see!

The top piece above the header is my very first digital Submas artwork!! I never finished it bc I didn't know how to pull my vision of as I wanted & started modeling the train and didn't finish that either, whoops! I really want to remake this later and make it super cool!

^^^ My reaction to breaking 500 likes & 100 followers in a single day with my first tweet (the battle subway one) all the way back in May!! I was completely floored by all the attention, oh how it skyrocketed my excitement and anxiety! Crazy times, I was so super nervous to be there with so many amazing artists and doubted if I could ever survive there ahahah!! Many had joined the community much much earlier than me, so I had arrived with a late train to PLA/neo Submas hype!

Next up is a bunch of stuff I haven't posted before:

One of my fav sketches! Been saving this for so long bc I really really want to finish this one day!

One of the first submas sketches with an actual story behind it! The subway bosses are running late for their flight because they didn't pass the safety check! The irony!! This would never happen as bosses are always on schedule. But Emmet hadn't noticed a wild Joltik hiding under his coat, so he set up the alarm and they got examined and interrogated of smuggling! How embarrassing for them! The bosses resolved the situation by catching the Joltik, but will they be able to catch their flight anymore?? Maybe if Elesa can distract the stuerts performing the safety protocol for a minute!

More sketchbook stuff...

In case you can't make any sense of it, Emmet's dreaming of different combinations of pokémon. Meanwhile Ingo snores louder than the train! HONK SHOO!

Top 7 every submas fan draws at some point!

Submas trademark posing

submas sleeping in a train

sad Emmet

Emmet with Joltik

Ingo with a cool solo pose

Emmet being chaotic & Ingo reacting to it

a bunch of mirrored submas poses

I sure have a full bingo card lmao, most of them you can see here XD

Next up is a sad man...

Stay strong our friends!

My typical sketchbook pages, crammed and messy as usual. x)

Post-PLA exploration:

A few examples of how my pencil sketches evolve.

I've done so much art experimenting with submas. I really like this black & white painting but I don't think I'll finish it anytime soon.

Where did you go?

The way I draw the twins' faces has changed a lot. They started with softer features and somewhat neutral emotions, because I wasn't as familiar with them or comfortable drawing them yet. Now there's hundreds of submas sketches, and they still keep evolving! My style is also kinda hard to pull off well, so their features differ from picture to picture.

This one was inspired by some submas music videos, can't recall their names anymore. The glowing eerie eyes and yellow&orange + black&white color schemes were neat!

I keep telling myself I need to draw more butlers, these twinks look so lean and neat and have more color and are posh with their monocles and have fun tailcoats!

(...why eyeglasses are not called binocles??)

I was there for the vinegar chaos. Good times!

That's all for now, I hope you got something fun out of this! Still got loads more art to share but I'll save them for another time. Next round I'll bring in my first submas comic!

[nelvana]

A couple months ago now I was fortunate enough to buy a used switch lite from my friend, and even luckier to obtain a copy of Pokemon Scarlet at the local pawn shop at a very reduced price (plus a couple other things but that's not the point rn). So, we go right from the earliest generation of pokemon to the newest back to back, with possibly just as many bugs and glitches, to my gen 9 team!

Team stats and general gameplay info under the cut:

"Nila", Meowscarada, ♀, U-Turn - Play Rough - Flower Trick - Night Slash

"Quaord", Clodsire, ♂, Poison Jab - Earthquake - Liquidation - Megahorn

"Guache", Grafaiai, ♂, Slash - Knock Off - Poison Jab - U-Turn

"Stella", Luxray☆, ♀, Volt Switch - Spark - Crunch - Ice Fang

"Étoile", Pyroar☆, ♀, Flamethrower - Hyper Voice - Swift - Crunch

"Pharle", Farigiraf, ♂, Crunch - Shadow Ball - Twin Beam - Tera Blast

General Playthrough Notes:

Okay look I need to level with you all right off the bat, I don't like the vast majority of the pokemon introduced in gen 9. They feel like such first drafts to me. I normally go into these games with a team plan but this time I literally had two slots missing going in, I just could not think of what to put in there. And I already planned on using two poison-types and two normal-types! Normally I avoid doubling up on types as much as possible! After a bit I used the codes to get a bug-tera mew and a cetitan and was just thinking "I guess they'll be mainstays??"... then I immediately ran into a shiny shinx. Then a shiny litleo. They happened to slot right into the team and I've never been fortunate enough to use shinies in a playthrough (except my soulsilver randomized apocalocke but shhhhh we aren't there yet), so I put them on. But if they hadn't shown up and essentially saved my ass I would have been hard pressed to fill up a team of six (look I literally just used a mew I'm not in a hurry to use it again, at least it's been a couple years since I used luxray in a playthrough).

Anyways, despite all that, I had fun! I knew going in it wouldn't be too difficult and would have its lion's share of glitches, so I was just along for the ride. I like the friend group you form in this game! I like vibing with koraidon as an honorary team member! It's just a pleasant time.

Back to shinies for a moment, overworld shinies without any sound effects to indicate them is evil. I spent so much time staring at groups of pokemon trying to tell if one of them was off-palette. Thankfully, I never ran into any shinies other than the ones I caught.

The raids are neat, though since I don't have Nintendo Online and no frequent enough local players it isn't super interesting with just the npcs. Caught a few neat fellas though, including a steel-tera breloom and a fighting-tera azumarill.

Speaking of, when I first started playing those mewtwo raids were going on and I wanted to participate in them so bad. I barely missed my window, though from what I've heard I wouldn't have stood much of a chance anyway, haha.

I wish there was more post-game other than the raids. I've redone the tournament like half a dozen times now; I wish there was a battle frontier or something. To be fair, I haven't caught all those ruin legends yet; though the one I have caught I managed to get in the first ball, lol.

Do I have the dlc yet? No! I can't just throw around that kind of money willy-nilly. Maybe someday though.

Picnics are really cute though I wish I could pet my pokemon instead of just wash them. Also why can't I sit down on the chairs that are set up around the picnic table??? Still don't really get the sandwich hype, I might mess around with it a bit though, I want to give it a fair shot.

"Hey Nel, why haven't you talked about the Elite Four? You usually start these notes with them?" The E4 is very unremarkable, sorry. I won't bore you by being the billionth person to rag on how Geeta is objectively the worst champion. Also when I rematched all the gym leaders I didn't have to terastilize or heal my pokemon. They were a bit more impressive the first time around tbh. The gym puzzles were neat though!! Except for Tulip's. Fuck her.

Oh yeah, terastilizing is a thing. Mega evolution is still better.

I wanna hang out with my friiiieeeennnds more, both my irl friends and Nemona, Penny, and Arven. It would be so fun to do raids with them or something like that.

Cold take but the uniforms suck I wanna customize my outfit like Nemona, Penny, Arven and Team Star do

(Normally this is where I'd show a screenshot of me finishing the game, but I'm one of the few weirdos who can't use captchas and haven't found another way to transfer files from my switch to other devices. Have a picture of my cat instead; his name is Prince.)

[mythicalmagical-monkeyman]

Does anyone in R. AU like to draw? Paint? Anything like that?

*sniff* >:3

OK SO Wukong's one of us, he used to draw a shit tone of fan art for the fandoms he's in though it kind of died out his life got busier though if he ever need the extra cash he'll reopen commissions or some times if he has the time he'll draw for fun

MK is kind of like Hiccup when it comes to drawing, he'll do sketches of creatures and inventions that he either comes up with himself or that are actually real. He used to color all his drawings when he was younger but as he got older it just became a lot easier to just shade with pencil instead of being a neat freak over all the colors

Macaque doodles, he never really had the time to practice up his skill and learn from different artist how to devolve his skills but he still loves to draw and doodles especially if it's a moment he'd like to remember

Mei spent a lot of time hanging around Ao Lie's anatomy books growing up so she got really familiar with how human bodies worked and so she became very skilled at drawing said human bodies because as a kid she found it fun to try and draw all the anatomy type stuff in Ao Lie's books

PIF is very skilled at drawing up building lay outs due to the fact that she was a thief and had to learn the lay out of a building before she broke into said building. as such Red Son as a kid would watch his mom draw buildings and so he'd mimic it and try and draw his own. This later developed into a skill of him being able to draw blue prints very well whether it was for buildings or machines.

Ao Qin has a lot of time on his hands as his wife is the one actively running their kingdom as such one of the skills Ao Qin perfected over the year was painting with water color. He especially loves to paint back grounds.

During therapy one of the skill Sandy picked up was art therapy where he'd try and paint what he was feeling. while he doesn't do it much now Sandy still sometimes paints to calm himself and help him focus

One of Yellowtusk's favorite past times used to be sculpting pottery, while her hands are a bit too big to properly do small pieces she was still rather good at doing larger pieces and once she went down the path to redemption she picked this skill back up

The (not) Mayor & Tang are both into map drawing. The mayor is into city planning maps and street lay outs where as Tang is into rp and fantasy maps

Erlang is an architect/engineering god (smth along those lines) so he's learned the art of using charcoal to draw his designs for inventions and buildings. and then someone introduced him online building design technology (I am blanking on what it's called) and he quickly became a pro at that.

Syntax isn't the best at drawing but he designed himself an interactive 3D model app that helps him design inventions by being able to put pieces together and see how they work

(a stretch but...)

Spider Queen is super into fashion and is quite the sewer. Seeing as she has six arms SQ picked up the skill of fashion design and sewing to make herself a bunch of badass outfits

Bai-He is super into doing people's hair, make-up, and nails (she wants to work at salon when she's older) but surprisingly she's actually really good at it

Ji-Ji being a war goddess has perfected the art of drawing battle plans

[teenagemutantninjatrauma]

*sigh* 2003 turtles should’ve made a radio station

Did anyone see that one video of Raph and Mikey doing a podcast and answering questions? How neat would it be if they just… had a radio station??

Imagine, right, Mikey reads scary stories and he and Donnie are writing an episodic murder mystery story. Leo does mini-lessons in Japanese language and culture. Raph blasts absolutely banger music and gives updates on any new happenings New Yorkers should watch out for - ongoing gang wars, aliens on the loose, but also charity events outside of Oroku Saki’s work because. Fuck Oroku Saki lol

Whenever they get into trouble and can’t get to their radio station or are too busy fighting something, the few New Yorkers that listen to them worry, and as they worry, they talk, and so ironically anytime the station goes quiet, the awareness of it spreads. The turtles keep coming back to new listeners, and they make more stories, more little lessons, they share little censored bits of their life. Mikey does in-depth analysis of superhero comics and shows like Star Trek, and very often reminds his listeners to Be Fuckin Weird!!! Be you be fun be interesting, your interests and hobbies are so cool I promise you, your outfit is banger and your hair is stylish and you deserve to feel confident in yourselves!!

Donatello shares hacks to make putting together machines easier for yourself, especially encouraging women to not feel intimidated or ridiculed by men for never being taught stuff like car mechanics — once you know where to start and what things look like, it’s easy enough! He researches reliable resources both online and offline, and occasionally rambles about new breakthroughs and what they mean in the bigger scope of all things science.

Leo has little episodes about exploring the soul - learning to understand yourself, meditating on who you are and want to be, but also how to cope with dangerous or traumatizing situations (shoutout to the Ancient One). Lots of queer folk lightheartedly agree that they would come out to him without hesitance because he “would be so so nice about it I bet.”

Raph starts setting up interviews, at first with the humans he knows - the kind Mrs. Morrison, talking about the horribly unfair housing policies making her life harder, the Professor, to humanize the homeless, but then he gets a little braver and starts interviewing nonhumans that live in the city — Leatherhead first, and then Sydney and the other people from the Underground City. A stray Utrom that settled down here and opted to stay when their peers left for home. Professor Honeycutt, when he visits - that interview sort of cements that he’s not making these people up, because, well. Everyone had seen and heard the fugitoid during the invasion. He interviews superheroes, both those that work during the day, and those that work during the night (and yes, he does interview the Turtle Titan). He invites the Battle Nexus Daimyo for a visit. But the interview most beloved by the listeners… is one Raphael conducts with his dad.

They never mention they’re mutants, but I wonder how many people feel something click in their minds when Raph starts the interview by going “so. Just you and four kids, practically homeless, hiding in the shadows. How did you manage, those first few years when we were really little?” And they talk about being a single dad who was “barely an adult” (read: still learning himself how to be a mutant) and all the folks out there who maybe had to deal with having kids too early or at a time where they couldn’t properly take care of them as much as they wanted to, they all lean in, because this man sounds like he’s about sixty now - surely he’ll have some wise words of advice? And he does, Splinter talks about having to learn what kids are even like, never having had interacted with that many people in general before, he often had to guess at what was a serious ailment and what was simply a byproduct of childhood and later puberty, he talks about how visiting his few friends (the Ancient One, and the Daimyo) helped him remember that he’s not all alone to do this, he talks about how what worked for one of his sons didn’t work for the other three and how a parent should always remain flexible and open minded and accepting of change, as change is natural to life and inevitable especially during the early years. And they talk and talk and I bet a bunch of New Yorkers go “wait a minute.. four guys that live on the streets with a dad they occasionally call a ‘master,’ one of them constantly talks about machinery, they all speak fluent Japanese… could these possibly be the fucked up little guys that saved my ass that one time? Could this be the guy I punched that one time cuz I freaked out?’

Like. Just consider it okay. A turtle radio station.

[kafus]

Hi!!! Yesterday i caught a random full odds shiny tatsugiri in violet!!!!!!!!!! (of the droopy variety hehe) but i think its... bugged? The game only plays its cry when i send it out in battle. Any other time, like in picnics or lets go mode or ANY other time you would hear it's cry, its totally silent. I even tried catching a couple more tatsugiri to see if its just the shiny one, and it is!!! The other ones vocalize like normal. Lol shiny tatsugiri has been a long time goal of mine, so it was crazy when it just popped randomly when i wasnt even hunting... and now she feels even more unique, like that shy pikachu from pokemon concierge :sob:

Anyways lol. Sorry for rambling, i was really excited about this weird mon, i had to tell someone about it!!! And thought you might think its neat ^^ have you ever caught a weird/bugged/unique wild mon?

out of curiosity, does your shiny tatsugiri have a different characteristic/nature combo than your other tatsugiri? i'm fairly certain that nature/characteristic affects pokemon call behavior, as far as i'm aware there is no concrete list of which natures/characteristics do what but this has been noted by other people online, there's a really good post about it here on reddit with milotic as an example. i can't think of anything in pokemon data that would cause such a bug and i think it's more likely your guy just has a quieter personality! which is cute and still special i think :^)

i can't think of anything in particular in the same vein, but i will say at the mention of tatsugiri that i also have a full odds random shiny tatsugiri, it's the curly form, and i literally tripped on it. like i did not see it before encountering it and i was on a call with friends and i audibly groaned because it's annoying to trip on mons while trying to get somewhere. and then i heard the shiny sparkles and flipped my shit. my friend who is way too nice to me for his own good spontaneously bought me sushi for dinner in celebration of me tripping on the tatsugiri on call. LMAO

[lakecountylibrary]

This is probably a stupid question, but does using Libby and/or Hoopla help your numbers? Like obviously physically going to my local branch would probably be better, especially for showing that a specific branch is being utilized, but ebooks can be more convenient (if for no other reason then if I need to look up a word lol) and I recently discovered I can stay mostly focused on audiobooks if I up the speed (yay!). I do love libraries (I was actually a page for years) and want to support them more, but I don’t usually have a reason to physically visit.

That's not a stupid question at all, and the answer is good news - YES, your use of our digital/streaming collections helps our numbers!

Both Libby and Hoopla give us numbers on checkouts that we include in our report to the state library every year (Anonymous numbers! We can see how many times a title has circulated but we don't know who is checking out what.)

Going to a library in person is, of course, great, but we're under no illusions that everyone can physically get to us. Don't feel guilty about being a digital-only user - you are not alone by a long shot. That's why we have those collections!

Of course, if you want to help your library even more here are three neat things you can do that probably don't require setting foot in a building (they don't for us, but your library may vary):

Convince your friends to sign up for library cards. Even if they don't plan to use them (we'll hook them eventually). For us, you can sign up for a card entirely online. And being able to go to our politicians and say "Look, 90% of people in our district have a library card!" would be a dream come true.

Attend virtual events from home! I don't know if your library still offers them, but we sure do and attendance is... well, kinda sad. We don't want to stop offering them because we know there are people who rely on them, but it's hard to justify when only one or two people come. You can see our virtual events on our calendar using the filter Event Type: Virtual

Use a database! Database is a stupid word and most of our patrons glaze over and tune out as soon they hear it, but these are tools that we pay a bunch of money for that do really cool things. For cardholders in our district, we provide online access to things like Creativebug, Ancestry, EBSCO, LinkedIn Learning, The New York Times, and about a hundred more all sorted into neat categories right here. You just log in with your card from home. If you find your local library's databases and start poking around and exploring, you will make a reference librarian cry tears of joy. We have to report use numbers on these, too, and getting people to understand how cool and useful they are is an uphill battle!!

So those are my 'How to love your library from a distance' tips. I hope they're helpful, and thank you very much for your ask - and for using your library!

[axvwriter]

💉 How do they feel about needles

✏️ Do they write

🛍 What is their fashion taste

Can I ask these 3 about Bobo, please?

(Sorry about the laziness. I'm still waking up, lol)

💉 - How fond are they about needles? (Op of the oc asks really used the word fond? Who's fond of needles?? I would think at best one can tolerate or is indifferent to them... unless I were to say Xia-lin loves needles but only in sticking them in other people /j)

Bobo's indifferent to needles. She doesn't care too much for them, but she has no issue with them if she does need a needle for any medical reason.

(Probably lucky and doesn't even feel needle injections which apparently everyone around me irl but me has such luck. I hate needles. Though a couple of years ago I found the best way for me to not feel/minimize feeling anything is to have it shot-gunned into me. Like just done really fast.)

✏️ - Do they write? If so, what kind(s)? Creative, journaling, etc.

The format of this question makes me want to think the question is asking if the oc writes for any fun manner; or even doing something like calligraphy, again for fun.

Bobo does not journal or write creatively or anything like that. The closest she gets to it is when she has to handwrite letters to the kingdom above her own. They insist that Bobo handwrite them and it sometimes takes longer than she'd like as she makes sure her handwriting is super neat and easily readable. Because if it isn't, the royals from the other kingdom will basically nag her about it.

Usually Bobo types things on a device with the occasional screen-touch written/drawn? signature. Though she also does at times write, her handwriting is readable, but a bit messy and rushed looking. With all the paperwork she reads through, Bobo has no interest in any creative form of writing. She's tired of looking at blocks of text.

🛍 - What’s their fashion taste(s)?

(I know like the name of some fashion styles, but not enough to actually name any of them for any of my characters. Unless it's business casual or lolita or gothic.)

Bobo has a preference for bright, cheerful clothes like blue and yellow. She often wears a red-orange color though as that's the Mycelind royal color. Not really a necessity for their royalty to wear, but she takes her job so seriously that she chooses to wear it anyway. If she can, she'll never wear a majority of the color white as that's the other kingdom's royal color. Her gloves do tend to be white as that's her personal preference on telling how clean her gloves are.

Bobo prefers dresses, skirts, and skorts. She often wears light-weight shorts or something similar underneath her skirt for modesty. Though really the chances of seeing under her skirt would usually only be in battle I would think and I'd think the fight itself would be too distracting to even notice. Just in case though.

Due to her kingdom's climate, Bobo does go with shorter wear, like short-sleeves and/or no sleeves. I'm actually a bit torn on how to dress her during her childhood as while I know what modesty would be like for the kingdom, I'm concerned of it coming off as inappropriate for kids. Like in-universe it's probably no big deal, but online irl I worry about gaining the attention of creeps.

So childhood Bobo's probably dressed more modest, while adult Bobo might not be? I actually haven't experimented with what adult Bobo's outfits may look like now that I think about it. Like I've decided what adult Bobo's hairstyle will be and I'm sure her outfit will be similar to her childhood ones. Anyway-

Bobo quite likes frills and cutesy looks. Her preference for skirts doesn't mean she hates pants though. She's willing to wear pants and prefers pants that has some frills or a semi-skirt to it.

Twst Bobo is a bit different as she's in a different climate that she's not used to. In Twisted Wonderland Bobo is constantly feeling cold so she's usually in full uniform to try to fight the coldness. She's also limited in clothing options so she doesn't get to show off her style much. I have her tie her tie as a bow like Riddle and Epel do as partially as that's what she prefers and partially because she's never tied a tie before.

I also gave her a grey shirt instead of white as Vil has a grey shirt which suggests to me that school uniform shirts don't have to strictly be white. If Bobo has options, she will avoid white. Only her gloves get to be white. (So of course the fairy gala outfits are basically majority white and I do plan to draw her in one of her own at some point.)

While Bobo does prefer skirts, Twst Bobo won't even look for them. She's used to mid-length/short skirts which would be too cold for her liking. She leans more for pants in Twisted Wonderland.

I do have a fan oc for twst named Lance that I've made mostly as an excuse to give Twst Bobo some more clothes. Though Bobo just takes whatever she can have, not feeling like she has much right to ask for any specifics. Especially as Lance doesn't seem to know how to take proper breaks along with him giving her stuff for free.

[konstantintreplev]

getting to know you meme

tagged by @menocchio-final-final, thanks!

three ships:

i would say morse/thursday but now i am deeply invested in the complication and fully fledged person that is miss joan thursday, and it's a whole mess, and i wrote 30k of a t4t thinly veiled joan/morse/thursday novel in a week and a half,,,, sorry i AM on my bullshit

uh... no. 2 has to be chrisjen/sadavir, who i've learned as of late i can still write lol, and i know how to make gifs better now so if i lose my mind on their shit again... this is a warning (they're both war criminals, she's just friendlier [hotter to some, they both burn with the power of a thousand suns to meeee] and on the right side of things in the timeline of the SHOW)

and finallllly... molly/margo from for all mankind, but really, molly/anyone from for all mankind, because like. i'm sorry she fucked that whole cast.

(honorable mention: brightlove... god i hope trewlove did eventually get to give that old man his first hickey)

first ship: do you mean first ship i knew was a ship, or thing i thought would be neat w/o the vocabulary? regis/whit from adventures in odyssey. yes, nine year old or whatever elias was deeply invested in these two old man arch-nemeses battling it out with their tongues in defiance of the Holy Spirit.

amen.

last song: "online" from the westworld s1 soundtrack

last film: ...does the PBS documentary i half-watched on the suffrage movement count (the part i watched was 2 hours long)? OH WAIT their doc on terrence mcnally (which was epic, highly recommend, RIP sir)

currently reading: supposed to be reading hands of the emperor (re-reading) ...uh but i've been on a break. i should just pick up at the feet of the sun, at this point, right? (the sound you hear is towm's eyebrow raising)

currently watching: let's just say endeavour and copious amounts of american experience docs

currently consuming: coffee... and water (bless)

currently craving: my (return!) trip to london with my friennnnds the flight for which i will be about to board exactly a week from now

uh tags... @tiltedsyllogism, @bryndeavour, @ronniebox, @sandfordsmostwanted, @mr-iskender, @mcgstarroar, @spinelesswrites

and do it if ya want to! or not.

[library-of-crow]

MAG ???: New Girl

Statement of Sean Palmer regarding an encounter with a new student in his Year 13 class. Original statement given October 14th, 2011. Audio recording by Kokushibiyo Yamai, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

Statement begins.

The new girl in our class was weird. Not really in a ‘said weird things’ or ‘wore weird clothes’ way, but more of in a ‘didn’t quite belong in our class’ way. Of course, that’s no reason to single anyone out. After all, she transferred to our school in our final year of secondary school and said she moved to our little town all the way from Japan after a nasty custody battle between her parents, so it only made sense she didn’t quite fit in. In retrospect, it should have been suspicious that the accidents started just after she arrived, but at the time they were just that. Accidents.

We lived in an ‘everyone knows everyone’ town. One of my Year 5 teachers had babysat me when I was younger and a couple of my classmates’ parents had been friends in their school years. Generally, we didn’t get many new students. By our final year, all of my classmates were people I’d known since I was practically in diapers. Still, on occasion, people joined us. Roger Parsons moved in after his grandma died and left her house to their family in Year 4, I think. Zoe Newton moved in Year 6. I can’t remember if it was because her Dad was going through some weird, mid-life crisis that inspired him to move to the country or if that was Ned Hartley. They joined our school in the same year, so I get them mixed up sometimes.

Anyways, point is, word travels through town fast. If someone moves in, it's the talk of the town for at least two weeks and someone usually hosts a small party to welcome them in. This new girl seemed to fly under the radar and no one knew she was around until she showed up at school. She was smaller, maybe the second shortest in the class, and wore thick circular glasses that almost gave her a sort of bug-eyed look. Her hair was a stark white, something that my friend Eli said could be caused by stress or trauma. I’m not sure if that’s true but he said he’d read about it online and we sort of just accepted it as fact. She introduced herself as Kiyomi and insisted that we call her Kiyo, but never Kiki or any other variation of her name. Again, in retrospect, I never learned her last name. I suppose she never actually had one or didn’t care to go through the trouble of making one up.

In the first couple of weeks, having Kiyo around was completely normal. She wasn’t particularly social or antisocial, she sort of just hung around and chatted if we engaged with her. The more we got to know her, the more we enjoyed her presence and, eventually, we were inviting her to all our social gatherings as regular classmates would. Outside of school, she had a very cute and frilly style that was just as clean cut and neat as her uniform looked. Everything about her was just so clean and perfect, you’d wonder if she was a living doll at times.

Everything, except her shoes. For some reason, she always wore these beat up, old trainers that were practically falling apart at the seams. I think the soles were glued on in some places and a patch had been haphazardly sewn on the ankle of the right one. Honestly, they always looked two steps from just disintegrating on her feet. Worse than that, they were always filthy, as if she spent every morning running through muddy creeks or dragging them through animal pens. But, somehow, not an ounce of that dirt ended up on her pristine stockings or her perfectly pressed skirt. When I mentioned it to a classmate, he brushed it off without much regard and claimed he hadn’t even noticed them. It really seemed that I was the only one that found it odd. Even so, I befriended Kiyo and enjoyed chatting with her on the sidelines of parties when we ended up near each other.

The first accident occurred two months into school. Jacob Larson, a classmate of ours, had washed up beside a stream in the nearby woods after a particularly heavy rainstorm. He had apparently gone out to meet some buddies and took the woods as a shortcut. It was officially ruled an accident after his ankle was found to be broken and it was assumed that he made a misstep that sent him tumbling into the flash-flooding stream and left him to drown. The town was devastated, but an accident is an accident. There’s no one to blame, save for Jacob’s ignorance. At the time, I was too shocked by the news to think anything of how exceptionally muddy Kiyo’s shoes were the day he was found.

Next was Hollie Rhodes, a couple weeks later. She’d been found near the train tracks with one of her legs on the other side. Those of us that knew Hollie told the police that she had absolutely no reason to be around the train tracks, especially given how nasty the weather had been that night. Sarah Allen, her best friend, even told them that Hollie had made plans to come to her house to watch movies on the night of her death. Yet, the needle found on scene and the drugs found in Hollie’s system were enough to have it ruled as an accident, despite how much Sarah pleaded with them to explore the potential for foul play. By the end of the week, everyone had moved on from Hollie’s death, as if there had been no cause for concern. Even Sarah seemed to get over it.

Then Sarah died too. This one happened a month later and I really felt like I was the only one with some sense about it. Her body was in the woods. They were always in the damned woods and that never seemed to strike anyone as odd. Her head was entirely caved in with a tree resting atop it like it was meant to land there. Sure, it had been storming that night as well, and sure, trees fell when they were struck by lightning, but what were the odds of one falling so perfectly on Sarah’s head? The bloodstains on the actual tree almost seemed.. Painted on. As if someone had taken great care to decorate the scene to look like an accident. Not to mention, her ankle was broken too. I think her mother said it was shattered. How does tripping shatter an ankle? And why was I the only one that seemed to want to know?

After Sarah, I became much more outright with my suspicions of murder. I brought it up in so many conversations that my classmates started ignoring me. Even Kiyo, whose shoes bore faint red flecks among their dirt and grime, seemed to distance herself from me. Who could blame them? I was crazed and kept bringing up our classmates that died in horrific accidents, obsessing over an imagined killer. But not one person even took the time to consider my ramblings. They brushed me off, called me ‘troubled’ and recommended therapists. Still, I stuck to my theories and became intent on proving that something was wrong.

My parents were worried too, so I had to wait until after dark to check out the woods. Now, I know, yes, if there’s a killer on the loose it is incredibly stupid to mill about after dark, but I was a stupid kid and all of my friends thought I was insane so off I went into the night. This is where things start to get a little blurry. I don’t remember how deep into the woods I got before the hairs on my neck started to stand up with the horrifying feeling that I was being watched. I do remember spinning around aimlessly and shining my torch at anything that made even the slightest noise, but there was nothing there. I pressed on, even as I felt the beginnings of rain and a nauseating lurch in my stomach. That feeling never subsided. Every step I took had me checking over my shoulders for something, anything that might be watching me, stalking me. Without realizing, I’d become some sort of prey and whatever was following me was determined to scare me before attacking.

A twig finally snapped behind me and when I turned, torch at the ready, I caught a set of eyes in the darkness. They were too high up to belong to an animal, maybe a large bear but we didn’t see many of those where I lived. Still, the way they reflected the light was.. animalistic. They didn’t approach while I stared at them, waiting for something, anything, to happen. I yelled at them, beckoned them to come forward, but nothing. They were waiting, patiently waiting, for me to make a move.

So I did.

The second I stepped back, preparing to run, the eyes grew closer. Without waiting for the figure to reveal itself, I took off at a dead sprint. Whatever had been following me did too and I found myself stuck in a desperate chase for my life just as the rain picked up into a downpour that made it even harder to see. My lungs burned and my feet ached but I kept up my pace on pure adrenaline. I knew that slowing down would cost my life. I knew I’d end up like Sarah or Hollie or Jacob. I knew whatever was chasing me was the culprit, I just did.

Then, the footsteps behind me grew quieter until they disappeared entirely. I kept running a while longer just to be safe, though this left me completely lost in the woods. When I came to a stop, I couldn’t feel my body and had to buckle over to catch my breath. I was just barely able to avoid being sick as the adrenaline continued to pump through my system, keeping me on edge. The sound of running feet brought me back upright and before I could take off again, a body came crashing into mine. It was Eli, my friend and classmate, soaked to the bone and screaming as we tumbled to the ground. With both of us in hysterics, it took a minute for both of us to calm down enough to realize that we had collided with one another rather than whatever creature was chasing us. Our stories matched up. Strange eyes in the darkness, a long and sudden chase, only Eli couldn’t remember entering the woods while I could. We stood, holding each other at arm’s length by the shoulders as rain beat down on us, trying to keep each other steady and devise a plan for surviving the night and navigating home in the morning.

I don’t actually know what happened next, but I remember the sharp crack of something hard against Eli’s head. My torch was small but once I scrambled back and managed to hold it to the scene in front of me, it was more than bright enough.

Have you heard the crack of human bones? The squish of flesh as its pounded over and over and over again? I can still hear it when I close my eyes. Eli didn’t scream, I’m not sure he could after that initial whack. I didn’t scream either, but I think that was because I was so shocked as I watched Kiyomi take a bloody baseball bat to Eli’s head and body. Her perfectly clean appearance had been ruined with blood splatters, but she didn’t seem bothered. No, her mouth was curled in the most terrifying smile, as if this was some demented game for her.

I was awestruck and couldn’t move. I just shined that torch on her and Eli until she finally stopped. She was facing me when she dropped the bat, let out a laugh, and licked some of the blood off her fingers. That’s when I noticed how unnaturally sharp some of her teeth were. I was sure she’d kill me, so I stayed still. I was a deer in the headlights just waiting for her to step over the mound of flesh and bone that was once my friend to start bashing me in as well. It felt like a century passed as I just stared up at her and she stared down at me from behind those thick glasses.

Then, through that animalistic smile, she said one word: “Run.”

So I did. I ran and ran, as if I hadn’t just exhausted myself only moments prior. I ran until I hit a tree branch that sent me tumbling to the ground with rocks slicing through my skin, then got up and ran some more. I don’t know when I stopped but eventually I did and I holed myself up by a large rock, desperate to use it as a shelter from the monster that wore the new girl’s face.

When morning broke, I was still alive. I hadn’t slept. I hadn’t moved. I was covered in a spray of blood that I hadn’t noticed last night. My ankle burned in pain and I deduced that I had twisted it at some point while I was running for my life.

I wish I could tell you how I avoided being charged with Eli’s murder, but honestly I have no idea. I spent months in a haze after it all happened, constantly checking over my shoulder, constantly ready to run, but I never saw Kiyomi again. No one did. No one even seemed to know who I was talking about.

I was institutionalized later that year and now, five years later, I think I’ve finally overcome it. I’ve actually taken up running as a hobby now. My therapist said it could be useful to reclaim it after being so afraid of it for so long. It feels good.

Statement ends.

Sean is still alive from what I’ve found but was readmitted to a psychological hospital after coming home in a panic and telling his wife that ‘she was back’. It wouldn’t shock me if Kiyomi was intent on carrying out this hunt over a long period of time. Every time I think I've escaped her, she worms her way back into my attention. Crazy bitch. For Sean's sake, I hope she grows tired of him soon. For my sake, I hope she becomes obsessed with him. Then, she'll at least leave me be a little while longer.

[hochi-mama-1997]

i wanna talk about my pokemon brilliant diamond team cuz its a little silly. (LONG ASS POST)

so im on the 8th gym, havent beat it, and my team is:

eggman. sweet poor eggman. currently a level 54 togetic. with the move set of baton pass, nasty plot, attract, and metronome. his strat is to make the girls fall in love with him, do an evil scheme, and then fuck around and find out. all else fails, run away.

kirby. level 47 jirachi. cuz i guess you get a jirachi in this game if you played sword or shield. i love them. with zen headbutt, life dew, dazzling gleam, and helping hand, i basically built them to work together with my star of the show pokemon in doubles, because i LOVE doubles. not online cuz im shy.

garchomp. level 69. got it from wondertrade and its just kinda here now. shadow claw, dragon claw, dig, and brick break, it does not set up and only attacks. i basically have no emotional attachment to her im sorry

soap. motherfucking soap. level 90 luxray. during the start of my save file, none of my pokemon would listen to me cuz i had the just great idea of using almost only trade pokemon. got angry and decided "FUCK YOU IM GOING TO CHEAT" and caught a level 5 shinx, put it into violet, and fed it exp candies until it was level.. i think 68? ive only given it more rare candy since then. its only ever leveled up ONCE in battle. right now its my last resort pokemon in the back of my party cuz i do like my game to be a little hard (as proven by eggman) he knows thunder, wild charge, volt switch, and strength. aka "might not work but worth it" "hurt yourself in the process" "attack then FUCK OFF" and "normal type move cuz ground types exist"

lucario. level 60 lucario. its from japan (or a game with the language set in japan, i guess?) and my best buddy. we're friends. i love him. i think hes from violet but he's here for some reason and awesome. he knows aura sphere, rock tomb, swords dance, and meteor mash. hes the guy kirby is with in doubles and the guy eggman runs away to. he's the star of the show. uh.. besides level 90 soap. also hes a master in cuteness contests so he's VERY talented.

dusky. level 48 dialga. just got here. still has base move set. but theyre here for one reason: my stupid ass luck. dusky got their name from the pokeball they were caught from. yup, a DUSK BALL. i dont have the exact stats but, i think.. dialga, a legendary, in a dusk ball, during the day? id say about a 5% chance. AND IT WORKED. i lost my shit when it happened. i think to myself, "this is why you've only gotten one shiny outside of community day fennekin and wonder traded hacked ones. because all your luck goes to bullshit like this." (and the fucking FIRST pokemon i battled on the port to coliseum being a SHINY KAKUNA. why.) might get off the team at some point.

honorable mentions who i booted from the team or something like that:

monferno i caught in legends arceus. left behind but was useful for gardenia and stuff.

razor the roserade. he's a champion from galar. just here cuz i wanted him to be.

bunbun the lopunny. shes also a champion from galar. i just didnt want them to be lonely cuz i never play that game.

R.K. (aka roaring knight) i never used him ever but he's a gallade and i just think hes cool and worth a shout out.

felon the empleon. my starter. i left him in the box because its the electric gym. might pick him back up for the elite four and replace dusky. unsure. move set of metal claw, surf, brine, and blizzard. cuz. yeah. no set up for him only damage.

machamp from china or a game with chinese, i guess. i got him from wondertrade as a machoke and i just think its neat.

ledian. poor ledian. i wanted it to work out. i wanted to pick faves over powerfulness like karen says. but no i cant. youre fucking pathetic ledian. im sorry. i love you.

ask questions if youre brave enough...

[prophbuilds]

ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex Royal - A Retrospective

In 2020, my friend got me something I had been looking at but never honestly thought to get for myself - A Master Grade Barbatos kit.

Now, I'd been looking into some of the neat things folks had been doing with them since the kit dropped. Stuff like adding in metal parts for the joints, doing fantastic aging/battle damage mods and the like. I'm not down for the battle damage or the aging and adding so much metal, although I guess it stiffens up some of the looser joint considerably so it can hold more extreme poses longer, I'm not really worried about that.

No... I just wanted to paint it.

Not wanting to test paints on the actual kit, I went and found myself a decent analog.

I went and picked myself up an SDCS Barbatos Lupus Rex.

Like I said before the break, this started out as a paint test.

Not just any paint test, though...

This was a base for me to actually test some paints on as well as see if my paint scheme would pan out. See... I've been watching folks who customize and restore toy cars (Hot Wheels, Matchbox... those sized cars) and many of them run acrylics when they're not trying to match the paints used on the older toys. This got me thinking that, if I could find the right stuff, I could simply buy some of the thicker paints I've reliably used on other plastics in the past and thin it out to flow like the Testor enamels I've been using for decades.

My search lead me to a paint maker based in CT - Createx Colors - and their acrylic reducers in particular. I didn't expect to get the quality you'd see in their own product lines mixing my own brews using other company's paints. What I got was still an exceptionally stable and durable finish that didn't mess with the other company's paints that terribly. The metallics will fall out of suspension faster but the gloss was still there.

To recap:

I had a plan.

I had the paints.

I... still didn't have the Lupus Rex kit to test on.

At this point, the SDCS Barbatos Lupus Rex kit could've been mistaken for a myth. I don't know if it was because it was a popular kit or the Human Malware that hit or maybe some weird Bandai thing with doing a low run but the Lupus Rex was out of stock everywhere. Nobody had it but eBay and I'm not willing to pay nearly retail price for the MG this was standing in for on an SD kit. Not even an exceptionally neat one.

After a good nine months, one finally came back in stock at one of the online shops I buy from and the plan was a go. The following are progress shots from the build.

As you can see, my plan was very simple. I took the reds and blues and brought them down to my fave dark metallic blue and a nearly crimson red. These darker colors pop off the white far more than expected but in a good way. The classic Gundam Yellow is replaced by my antique gold mix. The idea is to give this version of the Barbatos an almost Pre-Calamity War regal feel. The one thing I couldn't test on the smaller kit is running a metallic (almost pearlecent) white for the white armor pieces.

To take things to that clean "Trailer Queen" level you see in show cars, I did touches of straight metallics on the exposed hydraulics. Shiny silver pistons are held in by copper, gold and brass equipment. This is absolutely a holdover from my looking into the metal replacement parts. = )

All in all, this was a fun build. A simple paint job that did more than I had hoped. When I build the MG Barbatos, I have this little guy as visual reference. At the time of this writing, the thinned paints are holding up against the minor scuffs and scratches it takes as I pose it from time to time. I need to get around to top coating it and my other kits but I'm glad to see my long shot idea has worked out well.

Best thing about this is I get quite possibly the most unique yet cleanest Lupus Rex around. It may not be in line with many folks idea of the Post-Calamity look of the suits and equipment the Tekkadan Crew normally rolls in but I'm sure even Mikazuki would give an indifferent "Okay" to.

[house-vestra]

fe17 thoughts (part 2)

similar spoiler warning as last time; i’ve now beaten chapter 18 but this post is about the brodia gang in this post so mainly spoilers for mid-game

first up in the brodia gang is yunaka. she’s fine. her personality is cute, just not my type of chara, and her design doesn’t work for me so she’s just mid-tier. covert units are good but i prefer zelkov

i unexpectedly like alcryst. i don’t care that much for bernadetta so i wasn’t expecting to like him, but his portrayal balances the serious and comedic elements of his personality better imo. i like that he threatened my life and i also do find extreme apologizing funny (it must have been a direct reference, right????) i think this type of character is very interesting against the backdrop of brodia, and despite his self esteem, he still has a backbone of steel on him, which is all. very. interesting.

i also like his evil-looking eyes. i don’t think diamante has them

(get his pandreo c-support if you can. awoo!! awoo...)

i was worried lapis looked super generic in the character previews but she’s grown on me. actually my first in-game impression of her was very positive because she and citrinne were totally ready to shank us from the front even after they knew who we were, which was refreshing after firene. but then she became nice and i was worried again. now i’ve decided i like her; i need to get more supports with her but i felt the signs that she grew up in extreme poverty were well done, things like being grateful for any type of thing you give her and, obviously, the milk convo. i’ve only gotten the c-support and it’s definitely funny but you can see lapis piecing it together at the same time you’re realizing what she’s talking about (i think the clip circulated on twitter/tumblr on release or near release, and seemed the idea online was that it was a joke about a white person thinking milk needs to be watered down, but the real context is much more interesting). ANYWAY i need to get more lapis supports but also unexpectedly ended up liking her.

citrinne is a hot rich lady. i uncomplicatedly like her. also need to get more supports with her. 

diamante... he’s fine. his thing with his dad was neat; that whole family’s dynamic is fun. otherwise, he’s very... there. i do like giving him lyn for the same reason ppl use sylvain to kill felix. i just got a diamante/jade support where diamante fully guffaws out loud for like 2 whole lines and that decimated my grasp of what his character is.

i didn’t notice it for a while, but i think diamante has 2-color hair too? he has a bright red streak at his temple that kind of looks like light glare but it doesn’t move even when he turns around, so i think he has like... idk just one patch of hair that grows differently...

amber. alpaca. he definitely comes the closest to the hisame/pickle situation just bc... alpacas are such a specific animal lol and very like 2011-brand “i love alpacas and sloths bc i’m so random” but from an adult man. his alpaca sweater is cute. his support with vander is funny.

i have no thoughts on jade except that her c support with bunet was funny.

i mentioned i needed master seals last time but actually after ch. 17 you get finally get unlimited seals in the shop so i’ve been rescued. everyone is now promoted except for clanne... i may go back to him but he’s only level 9; we’ll see if he can net any arena exp.

i appreciate that everyone’s default outfit changes with their base advanced class! i haven’t used a second seal so don’t know whether there are reskins for different classes but it’s reminiscent of the RD promotion outfit changes. i imagine if this game had had sprites, we might not have gotten this? i would have liked to see sprites by mika pikazo though; possibly some character designs might have clicked better visually.

supports are annoyingly hard to get?? i feel like after most battles i’ve only gotten 2 or 3 supports unlocked, and even after unlocking gifts to give people (which are SO EXPENSIVE), it feel like gifts and meals had more of an effect in 3h (altho u did get to eat a lot more meals in that game lol)

misc. but i wonder how many people entered the series with fe17? ig we’ll get more of an idea over time because those people probably wouldn’t get it on release. 3h was a huge entry game but i feel like everyone who is talking about engage is just like.... a series veteran lol i was on reddit and people are like “you couldn’t do that map?? unless this is ur first FE, you should know the optimal way is to do this” which struck me as an incredibly weird thing to say if any other game was in discussion?

[emisirrelevant]

My Scarlet and Violet Soundtrack Ranking

Because the newest installment of the Pokemon franchise has been released to the world, and I love music.

So why not rank the soundtrack of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?

It's been only two days, but I will still rank the soundtrack based on what I have heard. So yeah not every theme will be on here, but mostly the ones I took note of.

Title Screen Theme

7/10. So I can't find any official versions online of the title screen theme yet, but the cover of that band playing it sounds pretty decent. It's definitely going back to the more fanfare-ish and nostalgic recall aspect of the game. Instead of building on or continuing in a new direction from Sword and Shield, we seem to be going back in time. Which is good, but also idk. I mean, I know I wasn't the hugest fan of SWSH's at first either, but it took me some time and I actually like the SWSH theme. Anyway, the S and V title theme isn't bad by any means. I just thought it would progress and not go back? Idk. So yeah, 7/10.

Trainer Battle Theme

6/10, maybe even 6.5/10. In the beginning I can instantly pick up on the Gen 4/Sinnoh/Diamond and Pearl vibes. Which I like, don't get me wrong. It's definitely reworked a bit, as this is a new Pokemon game. But I like the call back. As for the theme overall, I would say meh. It's just a battle theme. There's not too much going on- which can be a good thing- but I think there could be a bit more excitement which is missing. It's not bad, but no one thing stands out to me. It's not leaving me thinking "oh my god I need to hear this again."

Wild Pokemon Battle West Province

6/10. Okay it could be a lot worse, but I don't know.. I feel like I'm being gracious with my score. But yeah, idk the Western theme isn't really vibing with me. But it's kinda funny because to me it sounds like the music from that one meme, the one that's like "to be continued" with the arrow. Not my favorite of the wild battle themes tbh.

Wild Pokemon Battle North Province

7/10. Only slightly better than the West Province battle theme. Also I guess I like slightly faster paced tracks so that might be why too lol. I love the guitar in this one tbh. I do appreciate it. I feel like I should be in a car just driving along to this song for some reason lol. But compared to the next two themes, it's still not my favorite.

Wild Pokemon Battle East Province

7.5/10. It's got a similar tempo to the North Province theme, and also has its own guitar motif going on. It feels like a car chase scene while I listen to it. Idk how else to explain it. Idk why I like it slightly more than the North Province one, but it still is not my favorite out of them all.

WILD POKEMON BATTLE SOUTH PROVINCE

9/10. OKAYYYYYYY. NOW THIS IS WHERE IT'S ATTTT. THIS ONE IS A BOP!!!! I WILL DEFEND THE SOUTH PROVINCE WITH MY LIFE!!! WHAT A FUNKY SLAPPING TUNE!!! THE WAY THE OVERARCHING MELODY JUST VIBES WITH THE BASSLINE. THAT BASSLINE THOUGH. IT IS UPBEAT, FUNKY, AND GETS ME HYPED. SOUTH PROVINCE BATTLE THEME BEST WILD BATTLE THEME.

Wild Battle Theme Inlet Grotto

I don't really have too much to say on this one. It's kinda just meh for me. It's not like really uptempo or anything. I like the more exciting themes I guess. I'm just indifferent to this particular theme. 5/10.

Wild Battle Theme Area Zero

8/10. Like the South Province theme, I will defend Area Zero. I like it. The funky little noises are great. I like them. And there's hints of the funky bass theme too. It's also upbeat. I just think this one is neat.

Team Star Grunt Theme

7/10. I mean, as a grunt theme, I feel that it works fine. Will it ever top Team Plasma? I'm not sure many things will. Sorry, not to be one to compare but Gen 5/Black and White was my first experience with the Pokemon games. However, I will say I really like the presence of the electric guitar in this one. Without that guitar, I would probably rank it lower. That guitar is what keeps me going.

Nemona's Themes

6/10. I know she has two, but I'm gonna rank them together because I can and no one is stopping me. I think I like her first theme slightly better than her final battle theme. The guitar in the first one. Again, if you throw in an electric guitar, you've already sold me, as I do love some good rock/punk rock. That's my genre. The beginning of her final battle theme sounds like the opening (or ending?) to an anime show. Although I do like that little piano melody in the middle section that plays for a bit. They're not my favorite themes overall though.

Arven's Theme

6/10. Another theme that doesn't particularly stand out to me, but I like that it incorporates a bit of that funk sound we hear in the wild battles, and it's uptempo. It's decent for a battle theme- but still not like, anything out of this world.

Clavell's Theme

5/10. I dunno. It sounds like a theme more for like, when you're going on an adventure, like exploring an area. It's really intriguing though, I will say, for the theme of the director of the academy. It's not AWFUL, but I don't think I'd be like listening to it if I had to choose a track. Kind of feeling basic about this one. Like, it's meh. Mid.

Tournament Battle Theme

6/10. Idk, that just feels right to me. I like that it's lively, and has a fast tempo. That part with the little flute melody is good, and then the guitar comes in after that- cool. Other than that though, I wouldn't say I LOVE it. But I don't hate it either. It's alright. I will say that when I saw this was for tournament battles, it made me miss double and rotation battles in Gen 5- I have such specific memories of going to the Battle House in Opelucid City and battling-BUT WAIT IS THAT SAXOPHONE I HEAR IN THIS THEME? Love that.

Legendary Quartet Battle Theme

7.5/10. It's better than the Titan Pokemon theme in my opinion. And while I like the Paradox Pokemon one, the Quartet Battle theme still just tops those two for me, lol. I love how the Quartet Battle theme just starts with those chimes to set the mood- but then it makes that noise which is like, okay it's about to get serious. Then it introduces that steady beat which gets my head nodding. And then the relic-y kinda vibes that come in- I like that, it's a neat touch. Giving Unova Desert Town kinda vibes.

Koraidon and Miraidon Battle Theme

7/10. Oh my goodness it totally gives the Unova gym leader final pokemon theme vibes in the beginning. Which I LOVE. Because that theme was a good one. Once again, I like that this game seems to be calling back to/referencing the past games. But yeah, this totally gives me revamped gym leader final pokemon vibes. And I'm here for it. It isn't my favorite theme ever, but I think it works for this generation and these legendaries.

Gym Leader Battle Theme

6/10. It's a very interesting theme to me. Also the chanting that then comes in later... Yeah I still have mixed feelings about it. Like, Sword and Shield's was so like, stadium EDM club vibes- but this one is interesting. This is funky and fast-paced, groovy, very unique. Like, it's outside the usual repertoire of gym leader themes. I may have to sit with this one for a while.

Iono's Theme

8/10. Now we're getting to the good stuff. Now this theme is interesting- but in a way that I like. Very good mix of funky, and the 80s/disco vibes are immaculate. This isn't a battle theme anymore, we're in the club now. I'm at the gay bar. LOL. I don't wanna fight you, let's just dance haha. This character has a BOP for a theme.

Team Star Boss Theme/Mela's Theme

8/10, maybe even a 9/10 tbh. Like, WOWWW. THIS IS HARDCORE!!! POKEMON MORE LIKE POKEMETAL. We actually! got! metal! in Pokemon!!! This track goes HARD!!! It's sooooo good. I love it. The guitar is everything. The punk rock/rock fan in me is loving it. THIS is how you do a boss villain theme. We love a good iconic theme. I could blast this shit out of my car, a window, honestly play it at a concert because I would be HYPE.

Elite Four Battle Theme

8.5/10. Once again, it's giving an amalgamation of previous games. I really like the theme though. I think it's a good fit for an Elite Four theme for this new set of games. Like it fits with the idea of Scarlet and Violet being something completely unique and different from the games we've had previously. Musically/sonically, it blends that amalgamation of previous generation's themes and incorporating new elements to the soundtrack. It's a fitting battle theme in my opinion. It's tense and strong- but just the right amount. It DOES make me want to actually battle. Like it should feel like the Elite Four are a challenge- and this track totally sets that mood.

Sada and Turo Battle Theme

Wow. WOWWWW. OKAY. NOW THIS IS A THEME. WHAT A BANGERRRRRRR. This went so hard. I love how it starts off in the beginning with a sense of calm, but then it suddenly goes hard and you're immediately thrust into the action. And then it just keeps going for a while. Like, WHEW. This is ACTION. I'm sweating. Because this track is absolutely fire. This one is a win. 9/10. I WILL be looping and replaying the shit out of this one, thank you.

Cassiopeia/Penny's Theme

9/10. HARDSTYLE??? IN POKEMON???!!! WOWWWWWW. POKEMON SERVED WITH THIS ONE!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS TRACK. WHAT IN THE FUCKING DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION!?!?! I absolutely love the track. If you couldn't tell by now, this definitely one of my favorite tracks of the game. And one of the coolest tracks to come out of the franchise imo. As someone who also likes dance/EDM and rave music, this really hit the spot. This is so hype. I really want to play the game now, like just for this theme lol. Amazing job for whoever composed this one, thank you, you've made my day.

CHAMPION BATTLE THEME

And finally, the Champion Battle Theme.

10/10.

I will defend this theme for the rest of my life. Oh my god. I LOVE this theme. I wasn't sure what to expect. But I had a very visceral reaction to the theme when I first heard it.

Once that main theme from Gold and Silver/HGSS came in, I literally gasped. And then my eyes immediately watered. Yes, I teared up as soon as I heard that theme. Absolutely genius. Putting the theme within a theme. Perhaps using nostalgia really does work as a strategy. Like, god, idk how to explain it, but I feel like this theme just DOES it for me. It totally encompasses everything that has led up to this point. Like, it's showing the journey Pokemon has been on since the beginning. Through music. It's beautiful. Oh god, I'm getting emotional. Like, this is why I love this fandom. The music is always there for me- and this theme is an example of why I just have such a special place in my heart for Pokemon- as one of the fandoms I've been in for such a long time- it just gets me, you know??

It's been so amazing to see how far this fandom and Pokemon overall have come. Even though I wasn't one of the originals and didn't start my first Pokemon game until the DS era and Gen 5, this game has impacted so many people. And the music adds to that. I'm always looking forward to what the franchise does with the music. Sometimes it can be hit or miss. There was a mix for this set of games. But there were some real gems too. Welp. Until the next generation/games, I guess?

[rfyimmo]

My Quarter-Life Crisis is trying to kill me. | MillennialMomManifesto

My kid was watching a nursery rhyme that said "Don't throw your junk in my back yard, my backyard’s full," and I froze, my mind spiraling until I sank into the floor and cried, Summer Walker style. Panic attack? Adult tantrum? How many times are my peers and women of my generation finding ourselves in positions like this?... And Why...?

The more I gain the confidence to speak with my peers about instances like these or the catalysts for such, I realize things like this are happening to most of us right now. Our unhappiness is mentally & physically showing itself in our faith, health, mind, bodies, actions and reactions.

Sociologists say "Mid-Life" by today's standards is between ages 35-75 🧐

What do you count as middle-aged? At almost 30, I feel like I used to think this was it, but now, I refuse to accept that. All my life society and media showed us mid-life crises were usually for 30 or 40-something year old men buying sports cars and trading in their wives for newer models, but today what does that look like? 

I'm calling it a quarter life crisis (and not mid-life crisis) because if the people in the Bible lived hundreds of years & there are still Centenarian Blue Zones on this modern day planet, I hope this is not the middle. I hoping we have so much more to go. Most people want to live longer and climb the proverbial ladder quicker - so that's where the crisis kicks in. My peers and I are trying not to be crushed under student debt, living costs that don't match the wage gaps, and dreams we don't know how to make come true, but still daily haunt us. Queue the panic about not being where we thought we would by now or how much we feel we should have gotten accomplished and comparison to our peers' highlight reels online.

Being super is tough: It's a constant battle of figuring out when to use your powers (for good or for evil), balancing your secret identity, maintaining your energy and constantly improving your powers or learning new ones.

Good Vs. Evil: Remember that panic from earlier? You know, the panic enacted by milestones you thought you would reach by now? Write down what you want, how you want to get it, and form a timeline to make it happen. Seeing your plan on paper can help ground you.

Secret Identity: Make the best of this time! Even if it doesn’t feel like it, you are supposed to be here in this moment. There is more than one way to navigate life, careers, etc. Why else would there be so many paths if people were not meant to be different and explore different options. Do what works for you! Your powers are different form the supe next to you, and there are still muggles and mortals with no powers at all. Queue the Gratitude & Mindfullness.

Maintaining Energy: They say life gets better with age, so think of yourself and where you were 1, 3, 5, and even 10 years ago! You would KILL to know, do, have the things you do now & you learn daily how to do this life thing a little bit better than yesterday. Consider this quarter or midlife crisis a pitstop for refocus, weather this transition with reflection and grace for yourself. Identify the wisdom you have and apply it to new areas. 

"The purpose of your life is to find your gift, the work of life is to develop it, and the meaning of life is to give it away."

As far as Powers: I leave you with this quote:

"Midlife is when the primary operating system of your life shifts from the ego to the soul. It's a period when people start to rearrange what gives meaning to themselves."

As a 'SuperMom' This is How I'm Running on Sustainable & Renewable Energy:

While the early 20s and late teens are living their "Rich 'Hot Girl' Era", I'm trying to find my way into "Wealthy Hot Mom Era" who Dabbles in "Mob Wife."

✨A few Podcast Recommendations:🌤️

From Broken To Branding: B Simone on Nice & Neat

Highlighted Quote: "I wasn't protected as a child so I think that's where a lot of my comedy comes from I walk on eggshells a lot trying to people please and I have a lack of boundaries because I want you to like me because I need validation from other people instead of getting it internally I wasn't I wasn't protected so I feel like I did a lot to make adults happy around me that were supposed to be there to protect me but really didn't make me feel comfortable as a child"

You've Been BLOCKING Your BLESSINGS! | Tabitha Brown

Tia Mowry: You’re Unhappy and You Don’t Know it - Learn to Leave the Comfort of Being Unhappy

✨Here's my Money & Positivity Playlist (to help you see the bright side:)🌤️

About the Author: Proud milso & toddler mom. Lover of art, creative writing & blogging 🎨 Believing in the power of efficiency & innovation 🌟 Passionate about helping small businesses thrive 🚀 Avid traveler & coffee enthusiast ☕️✈️

I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. Whether you're a fellow mom, a small business owner, or just someone looking for a bit of inspiration, let's connect and support each other on this incredible journey.

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